2023 NRLWahine: Round Four Preview
Gold Coast Titans are the best team in NRLW with a 3-0 record and Auckland's Georgia Hale is serving up career best mahi, with and without the footy. As the only undefeated team in NRLW after three rounds, Titans have conceded the least points so far and Hale is leading they way with 155 tackles @ 99.4%.
Hale made 49 tackles with one miss in her first outing, followed by 50 and 56 tackles with no misses. 155 tackles is already a career-high for Hale in her sixth season and she is on track to surpass last season's mark of 221 tackles with seven misses. Hale's running mahi is crucial for Titans as well, averaging 116m per game after sitting below 70m per game in her five previous seaasons.
Add in eight tackle busts and 118 post contact metres, both of which are also career-high markers for Hale. Titans also have Niall Williams-Guthrie at centre and she is steadily settling into NRLWahine footy, with her tackling and running stats improving with each game.
Titans are away to Knights on Sunday. Hailee-Jay Maunsell is also named on the extended bench for Titans. Knights have Shanice Parker and Abigail Roache as their centres, with Laishon Albert-Jones and Nita Maynard coming off the bench. Knights are defending champions and a win (2-1) behind Titans on the ladder, making this a funky encounter between two good teams featuring strong NRLWahine flavour.
Dragons host Raiders on Saturday and Dragons will be eager to bounce back after losing 0-30 against Roosters last week. Alexis Tauaneai was fantastic once again for Dragons, playing the most minutes of her season with 67mins, 20 runs - 189m @ 9.4m/run, 4 offloads, 34 tackles @ 97%. The 18-year-old Wainuiomata junior shifts from lock to prop this round and in her first season of NRLW, Tauaneai is averaging 143m/game and 95 tackles @ 96%.
Despite Leianne Tufuga's three tries for Tigers, they lost to Raiders last week. Mackenzie Wiki is out injured for Raiders, leaving the NRLWahine crew of Apii Nicholls, Cheyelle Robins-Reti, Madison Bartlett and Kerehitina Matua in their line up to face Dragons.
Tigers follow that game with Tufuga at centre coming up against Cowboys who have Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly on the wing. Otara's Tufuga is dominating NRLW and she has blown away her previous best mahi by hefty margin...
2021: 2 tries, 3 linebreaks, 87m/game
2022: 2 tries, 2 linebreaks, 70m/game
2023: 3 tries, 8 linebreaks, 162m/game
Broncos had their first win of the season last week against Cowboys with Mele Hufanga scoring four tries. Hufanga is averaging 147m/game at centre for Broncos and her combination with Gayle Broughton continues to brew in an ominous sign for Eels, who they face this week. Eels are 0-3 and their only NRLWahine player is Capri Paekau coming off the bench, playing more minutes with more touches in each of her games this season.
Sharks host Roosters and Annessa Biddle continues to shine in her first season of NRLW, despite a shift from wing to centre. Biddle is one of the most dynamic runners in NRLW along with Tufuga and she is joined by Kiana Takairangi, as well as Harata Butler who returns to the Sharks team.
Roosters are bolstered by Mya Hill-Moana who returns to their bench with Teuila Fotu-Moala named to start at prop again. In the win over Dragons last round, Fotu-Moala played 26mins with 9 runs - 102m @ 11.3m/run, 10 tackles @ 91%. Fotu-Moala and Hill-Moana have only played one game together, barely 15mins together so hopefully these two, as well as Otesa Pule, can showcase their power against Sharks.
NRLWahine stat leaders…
Tries
Leianne Tufuga: 1st -5
Mele Hufanga: 3rd - 4
Linebreaks
Leianne Tufuga: 1st - 8
Mele Hufanga: 3rd - 5
Tackle Breaks
Mele Hufanga: 3rd - 26
Cheyelle Robins-Reti: 5th - 21
Leianne Tufuga: 8th - 17
Offloads
Alexis Tauaneai: 6th - 5
Leianne Tufuga: 6th - 5
Post Contact Metres
Annessa Biddle: 1st - 283
Tackles
Georgia Hale: 1st - 155
Alexis Tauaneai: 7th - 95
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